James Delahunty
23 Nov 2005 21:11
On Monday, TiVo announced plans to test a feature that would allow some subscribers to transfer recorded TV programming to either a video-compatible iPod or a Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). The announcement sent the company's shares up 4.5%. The feature will only be available to "stand-alone" subscribers however, and does not include the 2.3 million customers from DirecTV. After Apple released the latest iPod with video playback capabilities last month, a deal was announced between the company and ABC to offer some TV shows to iTunes customers one day after broadcast for $1.99 per episode.
Some fear that as services like this evolve, it could spell the end of advertising supported TV business model. One analyst said that TiVo's plans may cause concerns for content providers who want to make a profit off their shows either through online sales or DVD sales. However, there is little that could be done to stop TiVo.
"The TV industry has to embrace video on demand in cable, Internet and other forms of video distributions even though there are many ways these technologies allow distribution that doesn't make them any money," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research. TiVo will now need to invest in software to make transferring recorded programming to formats compatible with iPods and PSPs. The files will also be watermarked and it will be possible to trace them back to originating computers.
This is to discourage piracy. "The increasing popularity of mobile devices for viewing video such as Apple's iPod and the PSP device demonstrate the enormous consumer demand for entertainment on the go," TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement.
Source:
Reuters